


Assignment

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crushes, M/M, School, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 11:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12863427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Merlin just doesn’t know what to write





	Assignment

Merlin chewed on the end of his pen and glared at Mr. Kilgharrah when he had turned his back, of course. You just didn’t glare at him openly, that would only mean trouble. 

He blew out a deep breath but that didn’t make this stupid assignment easier. The old teacher forced them to write a list of things they were thankful for. 

Peeking at his classmates, Merlin saw Percy bent over his desk – if only the big guy admitted that he needed glasses – scribbling frantically. Percy was probably thankful for the new family that took him in and gave him a home and, well, a family, the kitten they had given him for his birthday and that he was the goalie of the school’s footie team. 

Gwen smiled while she was writing. Of course her list would contain winning the essay contest and Lance, lots of Lance. 

Lance in return would fill his list with things he had done with Gwen this year. Only the stuff that you could tell a teacher, that much was sure. 

Merlin felt his ears starting to heat up. He so didn’t want to know what other things his best friend had done with her boyfriend. 

Judging by the way Gwaine was grinning, he did put all the things in that you couldn’t tell a teacher. Merlin would have bet the two pound coins he had in his pocket that Gwaine’s list would only contain two words: Sex and alcohol. 

Merlin sniffed. He couldn’t even put that on the list. The later, oh well, yes, he could put that on the list, but he was hardly thankful for the bad hangover he’d had when he let Gwaine talk him into participating in that drinking game. 

Throwing Arthur a look, Merlin wondered what he would put on his list. That he was team captain of the school’s footie team for the second year in a row? That he was all popular and everybody liked him? That his father had tons of money? Would he even think for a single moment about the party two weeks ago? And the kiss? 

The kiss that was Merlin’s entire world since it happened. He couldn’t be in the same room with Arthur without his heart beating so fast that he sometimes thought he might faint. What would he give to feel Arthur’s lips on his again, but since Arthur hadn’t even looked in his direction, it obviously meant nothing to him. 

“5 minutes”, Mr. Kilgharrah announced. 

Merlin finally looked at his sheet again, which was still empty. What was he grateful for? His mam, of course, and Uncle Gaius, who taught him so much about herbs and plants. The great book he was reading at the moment, and the yoga DVD he would get for Christmas. He knew his old one by heart, it got boring. He was grateful for the chance he got to work at the French Film Festival. None of these things were good for this list, though. He was a weirdo the way it was, he didn’t need to put it in writing for everyone to see. 

Carefully, he put down ‘my friends’. That much was true. Merlin didn’t have many friends, but those he had were great. He was also grateful for his puppy, which actually was a full-grown dog by now, so he put ‘Freya’ on the list as well. 

“2 minutes.”

Could he hand in a list that only had two things on it? Barely. The lists would be put up on the wall of the classroom, though. If he put anything on the list that was awkward, everybody would laugh. 

“1 minute left, better prepare to put down those pens.”

Merlin searched his brain frantically. The moment Mr. Kilgharrah ordered them to put the pens next to their sheets, Merlin scribbled something on the list, just to fill the page a bit more.

Collecting the sheets from the students’ desks, the old teacher skimmed through the lists. Of course he shook his head at Gwaine’s, nodded at Percy’s and rolled his eyes at Lance’s and Gwen’s. He seemed to frown a bit when he read through Arthur’s list, before he reached for Merlin’s. 

When they came back from recess, the lists were pinned up on the wall. Merlin knew some of the handwritings but the lists had no names, so he couldn’t place others. With beating heart, he saw Arthur standing in front of the list he had written. How could he have been so stupid to add this last point? Why had he written, for all the world to see, that he was grateful for the wonderful experience he had made at a party? 

With a blush burning high on his cheeks, Merlin pretended to read what the others wrote and one of the lists caught his attention. 

‘I am grateful for being able to kiss a boy at a party two weeks ago. I wish I could tell him.’

Merlin blinked. This was a handwriting he didn’t know and it looked a bit girlish. So any of the girls in the class could have written this and lots of people had been at parties two weeks ago. 

When he looked around, he found Arthur still standing there, looking at him, a blush just as bright as Merlin’s on his face. 

Arthur threw him a crooked smile.


End file.
